Turning 22.
@Flagstaff_gardens in Melbourne
This entry is about me turning 22.
I’ll talk about how I feel and my main takeaways from being 21 years old at the bottom.
Before that,,,
On the day I turned 22, I got up at 5:30am to meet friends at Lysterfield park to go for a 8km run which turned into 9km. Not gonna lie, we spent around 25 minutes warming up.
First image is of Lysterfield lake at sunrise, second is of Denzel and Fred, and the third of myself and Denzel. Denzel and I do this every once in a while.
It was ~5 degrees here. You already know we had that post-run-warmth-buffer to fend off the cold.
The day was turning out to be really nice, sunny with a few clouds but still cold as I headed to breakfast at a Cafe with two friends where one shouted the meal (grateful). It was here where one of them started talking about the link between COVID-19 vaccines and infertility?!
Then, I went to get my first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. I took a break for a while, then went to have lunch with others and I got a gift and a meal shout again (grateful!). After that we all hopped into my car to go for a stroll around the city where we caught up with some other friends here and there. It was nice to be out amongst people between lockdowns.
Then I finished my day off with a family meal at a Uyghur restaurant (Dolan Uyghur Food Heaven) in Melbourne CBD. Here’s the food!
In the order of the food:
1. Gosh Nan – Traditional Uyghur pastry stuffed with black pepper, seasonal beef mince onion and capsicum
2. Toho Qorumisi Hemir – Stir fried spicy chicken curry pieces with potatoes and capsicums, served with special homemade sauce and long flat noodles
3. Zih Kawap – charcoal lamb skewers
4. Dolan Gosh Polosi – Pilaf cooked with carrot, onion, sultana, chickpeas, apricot and tenderized lamb with small side salad
5. Oy Laghmen – stir fried chicken, vegetables on top of handmade noodles
6. Poshkal Gosh Qorumisi – Finely chopped seasonal vegetables stir fried with lamb, served with thin layered steamed pancakes
7. My birthday cake from Laurent
Love to my mum. Thank you always.
It was a really nice day with friends and family. Couldn’t have asked for more. Thank you to the close ones and everyone else who celebrated this day with me.
Things I learned from being 21.
The world doesn’t stop - keep moving. Even being stationary, in a sense, is moving forward at times.
Being alone vs loneliness - that these two are different. I’ve come to appreciate being alone now while acknowledging what loneliness is. I went through the latter and I really get it now (took a whole year to process).
How are you mentally? - the importance of this question. Learning the importance of mental health as much as physical health has been a big step forward as I move into adulthood where I can see more of the hardships people face with mental health.
The blessings that I have and practising gratitude - the only thing I’d say is that I’m so grateful for everything.
I can do it - “I” saw myself get through the majority of the pandemic on my own, growing along the way while keeping myself good by taking care of myself too.
Importance of sleep, good diet, exercise and social & personal interactions - sleep takes care of my busy mind, good diet keeps my mood more consistent, exercise does all sorts of wonders and the interactions makes and keeps me human.
How interconnected we are - i made great efforts to stay connected with my family in Korea, Germany, Laos and with friends around the world over last year, which has kept myself at times busy and very happy.
Be more aware - of my surroundings, the changes that take place within and around me.
Discipline, hard work, being kind, dedication, staying focused - to keep these words close to me.
Being more focused on growth - there’s blessings I have to work towards. omw to it!
All in all, I feel like I grew more internally while being 21 years old and do feel like I’ve aged as the age count ticked over from 21 -> 22.
Thank you for reading as always!
